Ka 'ilio Hae
by Lina Cross
Summary: A girl from Hawaii is told she must temporarily move to her father's hometown: La Push. She has no idea about the werewolf situation, but in light of a virus circulating through the pack, she'll figure out soon enough.
1. Chapter 1

**For all the people who have put me on Author's Alert for my Harry Potter stories, I have this to say: I AM SO SORRY!**

**I know I've been terrible about updating lately, and it's because I have the worst case of writer's A.D.D. ever. So I know I'm making some Harry Potter fans mad by writing a Twilight fanfic, but I'm about to make some Twilight fans mad, too. I don't like Twilight. I didn't really like it before all the hype came up, and I still don't. But I thought the werewolves were pretty cool, so here's a story about them. For anyone with me on Alert who doesn't want to read this, feel free to take me off that list. I won't know the difference, and you probably have put For the Pursuit of Happiness on alert anyway.**

**. . .**

Some people called me Nani.

Some people called me Young.

My full name is Nalunani Young. My parents told me that in Hawaiian, it means white wave, and I think it's a pretty name.

But, right now, my parents were not the nicest people on the planet.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." I said flatly, staring at them. "What _exactly_ possessed you to think I would want to move to a reservation?"

"It's not that we think you want to." said Mom, looking uncomfortable. "We're just... Having some problems right now."

I studied her movements. She looked back at Dad behind her, but the ring on her finger was not shifted. Dad's hand was firm, but not too much so, on her shoulder. This wasn't a divorce problem. I was safe.

But, whatever it was to make Mom talk like that, I figured it was better if I just did what they told me.

"Will we be moving indefinitely?" I asked.

"Well, no-o..." said Mom slowly.

"You're gonna be on your own for now." said Dad. "Until we can get things sorted out. Then, if all goes well, you'll be home before long."

"And if all goes bad?" I asked.

They looked uncomfortable, then Dad said, "Then it will be indefinitely."

I closed my eyes for a moment and counted to five. They weren't telling me what was wrong, and at this point I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. "Who will I be staying with?"

"Your Aunt Emily." he said.

I recoiled. "Emily? But... isn't she into, like, dangerous stuff?" I asked.

"Is that what Micheal's been telling you?" Mom asked abruptly. "I swear, your cousins sometimes..."

"She's not dangerous, Nani." Dad said. "She's the nicest person I know, and I _would_ know, being her brother."

"And how long will I be staying if all goes well?"

They looked at each other. "We... aren't sure. But it _will_ be less than six months. And then you'll be home, with us again."

I sighed, but decided not to argue further. I wasn't sticking around, and that was that.

**. . .**

The next morning, I was at the airport boarding a plane to Washington. All I had was a suitcase and a messenger bag filled with all my important things. Money, pictures, keepsake items, the like. Mom hugged me tightly before I went to board the plane. "Things _will_ work out, you know." she murmured. "You'll be back before you know it."

I nodded, trying to keep tears out of my eyes. I honestly tried to believe that, and held that thought all the way onto the plane, where I slumped into a seat and pulled out my ipod.

The flight was only three hours, and it couldn't have felt long enough. I was landing before I'd even finished the soda the flight attendant brought me.

As I was entering the new airport, a woman with three thick scars on her face ran up to me. "Nalunani!" she exclaimed. "You've gotten so _tall_!"

"It's Nani now." I corrected, not unkindly. She wasn't a terrible person, I was just a little intimidated by her. The scars were a hard thing to get past.

"Oh, okay. Well, come on, Nani, let's go get your bag and we can go to my place." she said, leading the way to the baggage claim.

When we got out to the car, I found someone else sitting in the driver's seat. "Nani, this is Sam." she said as the stranger tossed my bag into the trunk as though it weighed nothing. "He's my fiance."

"I didn't know you were getting married." I mumbled, getting into the back seat. It was obvious the car wasn't used very often, but I didn't mind. Old things didn't bother me very much.

It was another short trip from the airport to the reservation, La Push, and, as much as I didn't want to, I found I really liked Emily's house. It was small, old, and simple, with Native American décor all around. "Where do I put my stuff?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh, just put it by the door. We'll get you all unpacked later." she said, already going around the kitchen and making food.

"What, are we feeding an army?" I asked, looking at all the ingredients she was setting out.

Sam laughed. "No, but that's close."

"Teenaged boys." Emily specified. "They'll be arriving soon."

"Am I gonna know why?" I asked.

"This is their hangout." Sam said. "You'll understand when they get here."

I didn't have to wait long. It was only about fifteen minutes when a freaking _herd_ of guys trekked into the room. "Sam!" called one of them, doing a bro-fist thing with Sam. "Who's the girl?"

"My niece." said Emily, carrying a bowl of something to the table. "Where's Seth?"

"He'll be coming in soon." said another guy, already eating. "Man, I'm _starving_!"

"Leah held him back." said the one with the shaggiest hair. "She was yelling at him about cleaning up a mess last I knew."

I shook my head and curled up in the corner of the couch. My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I slipped it out and saw Mom had texted me.

**Everything going OK?**

I flipped open the keyboard and gave the generic answer. **Yeah, Mom. All fine**.

"Seth! Buddy, hey!"

"Man, Leah is like your _mom_! Tell her to lay off!"

"I would, but then she'd claw my eyes out."

**Are you sure? We can bring you back if you really hate it**.

No. Too much inconvenience. **No, really, it's all right. I meeting new people now**.

"Who's that?"

"Yeah, Em, I don't think you told us her name."

"Nani Young. She's Greyson's daughter."

"Oh, really? I didn't know he had... a..."

Talk slowed to a halt. I turned to see what had happened and caught the youngest-looking guy immediately tear his gaze away. They were all looking at him in a stunned sort of way.

"No way." one of them laughed quietly.

A few of them clapped, some of them patted him on the back and said stuff like, "Way to go, man!"

"Sam," I murmured as he came over. "Who are these people?"

He seemed a little distracted for a moment, then looked at me. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, Nani, this is Jacob Black, we call him Jake, this is Embry, and Quil is the one already stuffing his face, Jared in the corner, Paul, and... Seth." He lingered on the last name, like something set the kid apart from the others. "Guys, Nani's gonna be staying here a while. Greyson and his wife need to sort some things out, so she'll be here. I shouldn't need to say this, but, come on, guys," he said exasperatedly. "Treat her like a lady. Like Emily, even."

"Yesh, shir!" said the one named Quil, his mouth full. Jake hit him on the back of the head.

"I know you." I said, looking at Jake. "I've seen you in, like, family pictures and stuff."

He shook his head. "Not me. Probably my dad, Billy. Him and your dad used to be, like, best friends or something. Still are, I guess..."

A few of the guys were still teasing Seth about something, but he looked more embarrassed than like he was joking around. "I, uh, I'm gonna sit over here." he said quietly, sitting at the table and not looking at me.

I watched him go curiously. "Am I having a negative affect on people?"

"Hecks to the no!" said Jared, flopping down beside me.

"He just gets nervous around pretty girls like yourself." said Embry, sitting on my other side.

"You got a favorite color, pretty miss?" asked Jared.

"Orange." I answered automatically. These guys seemed like fun. "You?"

"Gold."

"Black."

"Plaid." said Paul, joining in from behind me. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

The three looked at each other with knowing expressions, then they looked back at me. "One last question,"

"Just so we're clear,"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

I was taken aback by the question. "Er... no?"

"Wha-at?" said Jared, looking overly shocked. "You, Gorgeous? I wouldn't have believed it."

"Definitely letting all this pretty go to waste." said Embry.

"Such a shame." tsked Jared.

The three of them looked back at Seth, who had turned bright red and was focusing intently on the patterns in the table before him.

"Knock it off." said Sam, hitting Jared in the back of the head as he walked by.

"We were just getting to know her!" he complained.

"Don't pick on the little guy while your doing it. Think of how you would feel." Sam said knowingly as he left the room.

What? I felt like I'd just completely missed half the conversation happening right in front of me.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke that night to a loud howl. Wolves. Close.

My heart hammered as I leaped out of bed and ran down the hall to Emily's room. I pushed the door open quietly. "Emily..." I whispered, panic coloring my voice.

"Hm?" she said drowsily, not sitting up. "What is it?" 

I felt like a small child afraid of thunderstorms. But thunderstorms had nothing on this. "There's wolves." I said, going up to the side of her bed.

This caused her to start. "What?" she said, sitting up. "Where?"

"I don't know. They sounded close. Like, right outside my window." I said breathlessly. "Get Sam."

"Why?"

"I don't know, maybe he can chase them off. He's strong."

I heard her hold back a laugh. "Sam's working tonight, sweetie." she said gently. "Don't worry, they won't get in here."

"Won't they hurt someone, though? Like, if someone's taking a walk?"

"Nani, who would be taking a walk at... three twenty-two in the morning?"

"I don't know, but, Emily, _there are massive wolves outside_!"

"How do you know they're massive?"

"Because all wolves are! They're menacing creatures with giant teeth made for tearing flesh from bone so obviously they're scary huge!"

"Do you want to stay in here?"

"I – what?"

"Do you want to stay in here tonight, on this side of the house?" she repeated.

"What does the side of the house matter?"

"Your side is where the woods are. Do you want to stay in here for the rest of the night away from the woods?"

I debated for a moment, then figured she wouldn't tell anyone. "Yes." I whispered.

"Alright, then, get in." she said, lifting up the covers so I could crawl in next to her.

I was still uncertain about how sane she was, what with her scars and all, but I felt totally safe, away from he wolves, next to her. I went right to sleep.

**. . .**

The next day, I was sitting at the kitchen table before lunch when "the guys" showed up. This time, Seth sat right next to me.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry about being so antisocial yesterday. Like they said, pretty girls terrify me."

I grinned. "That's okay. I'm afraid of wolves."

This startled him so much he jerked upright and stared at me. "You – wait, what?"

I gave him an odd look. "Yeah. I mean, I don't know why more people aren't. They're terrifying, what with the fangs and the animosity... why are you all looking at me like that?"

Every one of the guys in the room was looking at me in disbelief. Like I'd just said I like to kick puppies.

"Well, there are a lot of wolves around here." Seth said slowly. "It's just weird that you'd come here if you're afraid of them."

Instantly, I knew something wasn't being said. He was scratching the back of his neck and wasn't looking at me. He wasn't lying, but there was something more.

"I didn't _want_ to come here." I said quietly, slouching a little.

There was an awkward silence, then Jake called out, "Who wants to go see the Cullens with me?"

They all made exasperated, irritated, or amused noises, most walking out of the room. "Who are the Cullens?" I asked.

"Friends of ours." said Seth easily, making a few people snort. "Well, friends of Jake's. They're cool, though."

"I'll go." I told Jake. "If that's alright."

"Emily?" he asked, looking at her for permission.

She shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Can I come, too?" Seth asked.

"Sure, bro." Jake said, already heading out of the house.

"Where do they live?" I asked Seth as we followed.

"They live in Forks, the city a few miles off the reservation." he said. "You'll see."

We all walked to Jake's house, then got in his car and he drove us to Forks. It wasn't a long drive, mostly because he was driving so fast, but about ten minutes later, we were pulling into the long driveway of a beautiful house in the woods. "Wow." I said as we walked up to it. "Are they rich or something?"

"Yes." said Jake simply.

He didn't even knock. Just opened the door. "Uh, isn't that illegal?" I asked.

"Nah, they're cool with it."

I raised an eyebrow at him, but before I could say anything, a stunningly pretty woman walked into the room. "Jake!" she said, a heartbreaking smile crossing her face. "You came early today."

"I was bored." he said, shrugging.

"Jakey!" squealed a little girl, about six, with long, curly hair. She ran up to Jacob, looking like she wanted him to pick her up.

"Hey, Nessie." he said, lifting her into his arms. "You bein' a good girl?"

"Uh huh!" she said happily.

"Who are you?" asked the woman, looking at me curiously. "I don't remember seeing you before. Are you a-"

"She just moved here." said Seth quickly.

"Oh." said the woman, looking surprised and like she understood something. "Well, I'm Bella. Bella Cullen."

"Hi." I said, shaking her ice-cold hand. "I'm Nani Young."

"It's nice to meet you." she said.

"Jacob?" said an incredibly good-looking man as he entered the room. "Early?"

"Just a little."

"And a girl. Hello, Seth." he said.

I don't why, but the tension in the room seemed to have mounted since the man walked in. There was a long silence, interrupted abruptly by my phone going off. The ringtone, oddly enough, _Savages_ from _Pocahontas._


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello?"

"Hey, sweetie," said Mom. "How are you doing?"

"Uh, I'm fine. Nothing horrible has happened yet, so I guess that's good." I said into the phone. I'd stepped outside to answer the call, relieving a bit of the tension in the room.

"Oh, that's good. Have you made any new friends?"

"Yeah. A bunch of guys that live on the reservation hang out at Sam and Emily's house all the time, so I've gotten to know them a bit."

"Who's Sam?"

"Emily's fiance."

"What?" she asked surprised. "I wonder why she never told us."

I shifted the phone to my other ear, staring off into the woods. "Yeah, I don't know, either."

Something moved in the trees, and I could have sworn it had fur. Two pairs of bright yellow eyes blinked at me, then vanished. I gasped, nearly dropping the phone.

"What? What is it?" asked Mom.

"I – I thought I saw a wolf. They have wolves here, too." I said, struggling to get my heart rate back to normal. "They were howling last night."

"Oh, honey, if you want to come back-"

"No, I can handle it." I said. "I mean, they haven't come near me or anything. I-I have to go. Love you."

"Love you, too, honey."

I hung up and walked back into the house, still a little shaky.

"Everything okay?" asked Seth, who was seated at a table with a black-haired girl. "You look pale."

"Wolves." I muttered, going over to him. "Can I sit?"

"Go for it." said the girl. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Nani." I said. "I just kinda got here yesterday."

"Where'd you come from?"

"Hawaii." I said. "My dad was born in La Push, but my mom is from Hawaii, so he moved there when they got engaged."

"That's sweet." said Alice. "Did you live on a beach?"

I snorted. "You can't go many places in Hawaii without seeing the beach. Our ranch was only fifteen minutes away from the coast by car. "

"You lived on a ranch?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, actually." I said. "My Grandpa Max owned a horse and cattle ranch, so my mom decided to do the same."

"So you must know a lot about animals and how they're raised." Alice inferred.

"For the most part, yeah." I said. "I mean, I have no idea what to do for, like, tigers and stuff, but I've got a pretty good idea of domestic animals."

"You know, there's a ranch up north a little." Seth said. "It's open to visitors."

My first thought was that I would love to go to this ranch and do something routine, but then I didn't want to go. It would remind me too much of what I probably wasn't going back to. "Maybe I'll check it out sometime." I said neutrally.

The conversation seemed to die a little, so I got up and wandered into the kitchen, where Jake, Bella, and Nessie were sitting at the table.

"Hey," said Jake as I came up.

"Hey." I responded. "What's going on?"

"Not much. Bella is just regaling us with tales of hunting." he said easily.

"You hunt?" I asked, taking a seat at the table.

She nodded. "It's a family hobby."

A grin tugged at my lips. "Even Nessie?"

Bella smiled. "Not quite yet." she said, patting the little girl, whom I assumed was her daughter.

Then, a devastatingly beautiful blond entered the room. She stood near the doorway, but said nothing.

"Do they hunt in Hawaii?" Jake asked.

I shrugged. "I guess you can hunt pretty much anywhere, if you try."

"Did you?"

I shook my head. "I'm no vegetarian or anything, but I could never see animals killed. When it was time to take some of the cattle to the slaughterhouse, I was always out. I didn't want to be around." I said.

"You know, the Quileute tribe in La Push almost worships werewolves." said the woman quietly. "Werewolves butcher animals mercilessly."

I narrowed my eyes. I didn't think I would like this girl. Her eyes were almost black, and it was like she had some sort of hatred for Jake.

"Someone yesterday brought up the topic of vampires." I said. "I heard they do the same thing. But then again, so do humans, right? Like elephants and tigers."

"Werewolves, vampires, and humans are entirely different things." she said, stepping forward.

I looked at her. "Oh, really? Think about it. Is any one of them really so great? I mean, some people worship werewolves, and I guess that's alright, if it works for them. Some cults worship vampires, and I suppose that's cool. But are humans really so different? We'll kill creatures for the hell of it, we'll do dangerous stuff at all hours of the night, and we can be total beasts when we get the chance." I told her.

She was gripping a chair. "They're not the same."

"Will you relax?" I said, standing. "You're proving my point right now." Suddenly, someone had a hold of my arm and was dragging me out of the house. I turned and saw it was Seth. "Hey, let go, what's the matter with you?" I said, yanking my arm away when we were outside.

"Rosalie is touchy." he said. "Don't mess with her"

"She started it." I said.

"Doesn't matter. She's not the kind of girl you should go mouthing off to." he said. "Just trust me on this one, alright? I've seen what she can do."

I rolled my eyes and turned away. "Fine. Whatever – Wolf!" I exclaimed, jumping back and slamming into Seth in the process. We both fell back on the gravel, me landing next to him, and I began scrambling to my feet to get away from the trees. Cuts were appearing up and down my arms, but I didn't care.

"Nani! Wait, get back here!" he held, running after me.

"Jake!" I yelled, getting to the porch.

He appeared in seconds, stopping me from entering. "What?" he asked, seeing the panicked look in my eyes.

"Wolf! Massive, big _wolf_!"

He blinked. "Where?"

"In the trees." I said breathlessly, pointing. "Like, the size of a bear, Jake, I'm not kidding."

"I believe you." he said, stepping onto the driveway to look. "There _are_ wolves around here, you know."

"Yeah, Emily told me." I said, gripping the railing. I saw some bushes move and a shiver ran through me. "Be careful!" I yelled.

"What's going on?" asked another handsome man, this one with blond hair and kind, gold eyes like Bella's.

"Nani saw a wolf." Jake called from near the forest's edge. "But it's gone now."

He nodded. "They roam the area a lot." He looked down at me, slightly surprised. "What happened to your arms?"

"I fell." I muttered, looking at the cuts and scrapes. They stung a lot, and there were little trails of red blood oozing from them. "It's alright, though."

"Wait out here. I'll get my medical bag. Just don't go inside, alright?" he said gently.

I looked at him. "Why not?"

"My family is very sensitive to blood." he said honestly. "Especially Bella and Jasper. It would be best if you just stayed out here."

I nodded and stayed on the porch while the man went inside. Seth came up next to me, looking at my arms. "When you said you were afraid of wolves, I didn't think..." He trailed off.

"That it was that bad?" I asked, laughing a little as the adrenaline wore off. "When I was eight, I was on Grandpa Max's ranch, and I was watching the sheep. I wasn't herding them or anything, just sitting around killing time so I wouldn't have to do chores. There were three wolves who started attacking the sheep. I was eight. I had no idea what to do. I watched one of the sheep get killed before Dad ran out and chased them off."

I could feel the disappointment radiating off of him. "Well, that sucks." he said.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Rose wasn't all that far off. Our tribe _does_ have a lot to do with wolves. You're gonna have a hell of a time living in La Push."

I snorted. "I'm not afraid of _images_, Seth. I'm terrified of the actual thing. Pictures, writings, and stories don't scare me."

He still didn't look convinced, but the man walked back out, so our conversation was over for the time being.

"I'm Carlisle, by the way." he said, rubbing alcohol on my arms and making them burn like hell. "I work at the hospital."

"No kidding." I said, coughing from the fumes.

"You don't like the smell of alcohol?" he asked interestedly.

"Can't stand it." I say, leaning away from my arm.

"That's not unusual. A lot of people think the scent of pure alcohol burns their nose." he said understandingly.

"Buns like a bitch, too." I said.

He chuckled. "You're telling me in all that time on ranches you never had to use this stuff on an injury?"

"Oh, all the time." I said. I pulled up my shirt to show him a scar that traced my hip bone. "I had an accident with a bull a couple years ago. Had to get thirteen stitches."

"What happened?" Seth asked, staring at the scar.

I put my shirt back down. "I got too close to the heifer he'd chosen as a mate. Not a big deal, really, happens all the time. I just happened to get too close to his horns, is all."

"You're into some dangerous stuff, aren't you?" he asked.

"Dangerous stuff is into me." I corrected as Jake came to say it was time to go home.


	4. Chapter 4

I walked into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from my eyes. Last night had been completely quiet; no wolves whatsoever. I'd slept like a rock.

"Morning, Nani." said Emily, already making breakfast. "Some of your things arrived last night." she said, gesturing to a few medium-sized packages on the table.

I opened the first one and found it was my laptop. "Rock on." I muttered, setting it to the side as I opened the others. There were a couple of my favorite books, and there was a CD that I didn't recognize with a note attached. In my dad's chicken-scratch handwriting that I had, unfortunately, inherited, it said, _Nani, your mom said something about you liking this band, so I thought I'd pick up their new album for you. I hope you're having a good time, or at least doing okay, in La Push. Call me if you need anything. Remember, I grew up there, and so did Em, so you can ask either of us about anything. Love, Dad_.

I gave the CD another look and slipped the note into my pajama pocket. "I'll clear the stuff out later." I said, heading over to the counter. "Where's Sam?"

"He's asleep. He was out late last night, so try to be quiet." she told me, putting some bacon and eggs on a plate. "Breakfast."

I took my meal to the table and ate, reading the newspaper. The forecast for the day had rain in it, to no surprise of myself. I smiled wryly and chewed my bacon. So much rain around here. It was a wonder the place wasn't totally flooded by now.

"Leah's coming over today." Emily said out of nowhere.

"Who's Leah?" I asked.

"Seth's older sister. She said she wanted to come over with Embry and Jared today." she explained. "Which should be soon."

"Why hasn't she come over before?" I asked. 

"She's been busy." she said. "But the others have mentioned you, so she wants to see what you're like. There aren't any girls she's able to see as regularly as the guys."

My first thought was that this Leah girl might be pretty cool. I mean, she was part of the Quileute tribe, like me, and she hung out with guys a lot, like I did back in Hawaii. I mean, you can't live on a ranch and not make friends with the ranch hands. Those were some pretty awesome guys.

About a half hour later, Jared, Embry, and a girl around my age walked into the house. Sam had woken up by then, and we were both on the couch watching Iron Man. "Hey, guys." he called without turning.

"Sam!" Jared exclaimed, leaping into his lap excitedly.

"We've missed you _so_ much!" said Embry, squeezing next to him.

"Get off." said Sam, shoving Jared to the ground.

"Morons." Leah and I said at the same time, but both with amused tones. We looked at each other. I grinned. Her smile was slower to approach, but I didn't mind. "The name's Nani." I said. "You must be Leah."

"I would hope so." she said, sitting next to me on the couch. "How's it goin'?"

"Wet." I said, glancing outside at the rain.

She snorted. "No kidding. Must be completely different from Hawaii."

I nodded, suddenly feeling homesick. "There's just too much _green_ here." I said.

"What? Didn't you have woods back in the homeland?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I'm sure there were some, but it was mostly grassy planes and sand. Some palm trees. But, I mean, as close as we were to the water, it still wasn't so _wet_."

"We don't even notice anymore." she said. "We were all born knowing it rained a lot."

I snorted. "A lot? Try perpetually. This downpour hasn't let up since I got here."

"It should stop by tomorrow." she said. "At least, I hope. There's a party supposed to happen down on the beach tomorrow night."

"For who?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nobody in particular. The teens on the rez like to get together for bonfires every now and then. It's a good time, especially on warm days, which we don't get too many of."

"Am I invited?"

"Are you on the reservation?"

"Point taken."

"How long are you staying here, anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I don't even know why I was sent here. My parents wouldn't tell me."

"Seriously?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "That sucks. Did you ask them?"

I shook my head. "No. It seemed too important. If I needed to know, they would have told me. Mom keeps asking if I want to go back, though, like it's actually an option."

"I think you should stay longer."

"I didn't say I was leaving."

"Good. We need more girls around here." she said matter-of-factly, flopping against the back of the couch. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"_Lilo and Stitch_." I said.

"You just like that movie 'cause you're Hawaiian."

"You're racist." I joked. I liked Leah. She seemed like a cool person, albeit tough. I'd made faster friends with her than anyone else so far, which boded well. I only wondered how long it would take for her to lie to me, too.

Suddenly, the front door banged open and Seth came running in, totally breathless. "Sam!" he cried, panting. "Sam, you gotta get to Jake's!"

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking more serious than I'd ever seen. 

"It's Paul!" he said. "Something's happening, I don't know – You gotta come!"

"Stay here." he told me. "Jared, Embry, come on. Leah, make sure Nani and Emily stay inside, alright?"

"What's going on?" I asked as the guys ran from the house.

"Dunno." she said, tensed. Her eyes were locked on the window, and her entire body was on full alert. "Probably not a big deal, though."

Lie number one.


	5. Chapter 5

About an hour later, Sam and the others returned, he and Jared carrying Paul. The latter had blood on his clothes and scratches all over, and he was unconscious.

"What happened?" I exclaimed as they placed him on the table.

"Emily, get some water." Sam barked.

"Shouldn't we call a doctor?" I asked.

"Let them do their thing, Nani." said Leah beside me.

"Well, what about Carlisle?" I asked the room at large. "We can call him, he's a doctor, right?"

"No!" Sam growled, almost like a dog. "Emily, _water_!"

"I've got it, I've got it." she said, putting a pitcher on the table. Same and Jake each took a cloth and began cleaning the wounds, but I stopped them.

"Here, give me that." I said, starting to clean them myself. "Haven't you ever cleaned blood off before? You don't wipe it, you dab it."

"How do you know so much?" Embry asked.

"Ranch hands get hurt all the time. Traditionally, it's a woman's work to take care of the wounded. Plus, Dad taught me all he knew about Native American medical practices." I explained.

"So you know a lot about injuries." Jared inferred as they watched me work.

"Yeah. Hey, can someone get some rubbing alcohol?" I asked.

"I'll get it." said Seth, leaving the kitchen.

"Mm... mmmm..."

I looked over to see Paul groaning as he made it back to consciousness. "What..."

"Great, now he's conscious." I muttered. "Here." I stuffed a clean rag into his mouth, startling him. "Sorry, but this is gonna burn like hell." I poured the alcohol onto the numerous scars, and two of the guys automatically began holding him down. "Just stay calm, it'll be over in a minute." He tried to say something past the cloth, but all that came out was unintelligible mumbling. I wrapped the scars with gauze and tied them off. "What happened?" I asked, washing my hands. I plucked the cloth from his mouth so he could answer.

"Bear." was all he said.

Lie. Bears have wider-spaced claws than that. "Oh. Well, you're still gonna need to see a doctor. Some of those need stitches, and I really don't want to do that in Emily's kitchen." I told him.

"Thanks." he said, sitting up. "For... whatever you _did_ do." He seemed to be recovering fast.

"No problem." I said. "Just don't challenge the bears."

**. . .**

Another hour later, I was typing away on my laptop when Seth came and sat next to me. The way he sat was odd, like it was against his better judgment, but also something he badly wanted to do. Either way, I couldn't see how either feeling would apply to sitting on a couch. "That was cool, what you did for Paul." he said. "I had no idea you knew so much about med stuff."

"I'm not really an expert." I said distractedly.

"Well, still you knew more than us, and we've been doing this a while-" He cut himself off, as though he'd gone too far.

"Doing what?" I asked, looking at him.

"Er... hunting." he said, even though he knew it was a lost cause. "So, did you like to do anything special back in Hawaii?"

I leaned back, knowing he was avoiding the topic. "I dunno... I surfed when I had time, and I danced a bit."

"Danced?"

"Yeah. Like, you know, hula dancing." I said. "Except, I just did it for fun."

"Do you remember any dances?" he asked.

I shrugged, unable to help but grin a little. "Not really. I mean, I'd need the music for it..."

"That's cool." he said. "Is Hawaii fun?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask." I told him. "I've lived there all my life. Yeah, you can find fun things to do, but I'm not a tourist so I don't know what you're looking for."

"Can you answer anything specifically?"

"I don't know, maybe you should ask some specific questions." I shot back.

"What's your favorite type of orange?"

I smiled. "Sunset. See? Was that so hard?"

He smiled back. "Nope." he said, popping the 'p'. "So are you going to that party tomorrow night?"

"I think so. I mean, there's nothing else to do, right?" I asked.

"You think it's boring around here?" he asked, sounding amazed.

I looked at him. "Other than a few choice occurrences, yeah, I'd say it's pretty dull."

He rolled his eyes. "That's it, you're coming with me."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he pulled me off the couch.

"You been to the beach yet?" he asked.

"Uh, no..."

"Good. Because that's where we're going."


	6. Chapter 6

Seth and I strolled down the beach. The rain had let up a little, and now it was only misting. It was just like being back home.

Except for the fact that it was cold, everything was gray, and there were no hot people lounging on the beach getting tans.

Still, the waves were a comforting sound to hear, now that I was so far from home.

"_E ke hoa o ke ahe lau makani Halihali`ala o ku`u `âina..._" I sang, breathing in the salty air.

"English, please?" Seth chuckled, smiling at me. He smiled a lot.

I smiled back. "It's called Ahe Lau Makani. It's an old Hawaiian song, and I think it's about two lovers enjoying the moment together, but..." I shrugged. "We learned it in music class, and it just kinda stuck with me."

"It's nice. You sound good speaking Hawaiian." he said.

I grinned. "You've never heard me get mad."

"You can get mad in Hawaiian?" he asked. "I thought it was the lazy language of peace and harmony and all that jazz."

I started walking backwards in front of him and put on my best mad face. "'Oe pa pela moe lepo!" I exclaimed in a thick, angry voice.

He looked impressed. "I have a feeling you just called me something awful."

I fell into step beside him again. "I just said that you were so dead. Nothing special. I can get technical if you want."

"Spare me the humiliation." he laughed. "Come on. There's a great cliff over – No! Crap!"

"Seth!" I screeched. Just down the beach was a massive, shaggy wolf with teeth the size of my forearm. I knew there were wolves here. I even got a tiny glimpse of one in the forest. But this... This was a bit too much.

"Nani? Nani, just calm down, it's okay." he whispered. "Just stay quiet."

I had a feeling I was going to black out from fear soon, so I just did what he said. I curled up on the ground next to a formation of rocks, Seth right beside me. "I won't let him hurt you." he whispered.

The wolf seemed to be looking for something. It was wandering on the sand, sniffing here and there. Suddenly, when it was ten feet away from us, it jerked its head up and became very still.

Before I knew what was happening, another wolf dove over our heads straight at the first one. I was so terrified, I couldn't even scream. My breath caught in my chest, and, for a moment, I was suffocating. "Akua lawelawe a'u." I whispered.

God help me.

"Stay quiet." said Seth as the wolves circled each other. I was almost mad. He didn't seem as scared as he did interested and confused. Like he was wondering what would happen rather than if he would get eaten.

Then one lunged. He clamped a hand over my mouth just before I screamed and dragged me away from our hiding spot. The wolves were too distracted to notice, and I could hear them fighting all the way up the beach. Our feet pounded the sand, Seth nearly flying next to me because of his long legs. But I knew how to run, too. Oh, could I run. I ended up actually pulling ahead of him by the time we got to Sam and Emily's.

"What's going on?" Embry asked, walking outside.

"Wolves," I panted, hands on my knees and hardly able to breathe. "On the beach... attacking each other..." My knees were shaking so badly that I collapsed to the ground.

"Seth, stay here." Embry ordered. "Twice today, what the hell..." he muttered as he ran off in the direction of the beach.

"Can you get up?" Seth asked, panting less heavily than me.

I couldn't speak, so I just shook my head. He lifted me easily and dropped me on the couch once we were inside. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

I shook my head, still shaking. He got up and made some tea, then brought it back to the couch. "I'm sorry you had to see that." he said. "I wanted to show you the cliffs."

"I can't _stand_ wolves." I said quietly, gripping my warm mug. "They way they make me feel... I just..."

For some reason, this seemed to sadden him. "The wolves around here normally aren't so violent-"

I heard myself snort derisively. "And you would know?" I asked harshly. Suddenly, I realized how I sounded. "Kaumaha..." I muttered. "I'm sorry. You _would_ know. You live here."

"No, it's alright." he said, though he wouldn't look at me. We sat in silence for a moment. I was calming down, and my tea was half gone. I vaguely wondered where Sam and Emily had gone, but then I figured they probably needed some alone time.

"You wanna watch a movie?" Seth asked hesitantly.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Leah told me you like _Lilo and Stitch_. You wanna watch that?"

I nodded, smiling a little. The movie reminded me a lot of home, in a good way. "Yeah. Alien dogs aren't anywhere near as scary as wolves."

We were about halfway through the movie on one of the beach scenes, and I was growing sleepy. The day had taken a lot out of me. I leaned on Seth's shoulder, my feet bare on the hardwood floor. It felt just like home in Hawaii, like Seth was my best friend David. He was the youngest ranch hand working for us, and my other friends would tease us about being together, since his name was David and mine was Nani, like in _Lilo and Stitch_.

"You know, you're lucky to have this cold weather with your beach." I said drowsily, eyes half closed.

"Why?" he asked, sounding equally sleepy.

"Because you don't have all these half-naked, fat, sunburnt people truckin' around." I said. "You've got fully-dressed pretty people all over the place."

He burst out laughing harder than I'd seen him laugh yet. "That was awesome," he said, still chuckling. "Great way to describe tourists, really."


	7. Chapter 7

**This is not from Nani's POV. Just a hint.**

**. . .**

The pack was meeting at Paul's house today. Sam's place wasn't safe anymore due to Nani being there. Not like Seth minded the change; he'd already discussed with Leah that he shouldn't become romantically involved with Nani because of how temporary her stay would be. And she had no idea about werewolves, and was terrified of regular wolves, anyway.

"We need to discuss this." Sam said, leaning on the table before the pack. "Twice in one day, we've had members phase without intention. This is either a blatant loss of self control, or it's something more serious."

"Is that what really happened to Paul?" Leah asked. "He went wolf without even trying?"

"That's how Jake tells it." said Sam. "At first, I thought he was making stuff up, except that I had to physically fight Paul into submission."

"And then Jared and Augie down on the beach." said Embry. "Except I think Jared was just trying to get him to calm down. We won't know until they're conscious."

"Something's going on." said Sam. "I wanna know what. Jake, find all you can on ancient issues with the pack. I don't like this, and with Nani around, I'm afraid of what might happen."

Everyone nodded, and some went off to patrol while others, like Embry and Seth, stayed seated in the kitchen.

"So," Embry said, leaning back casually. "Your girlfriend's pretty cool."

"She's not my girlfriend." Seth mumbled.

"Man, I don't know why you're resisting this." he said. "She's great. She's probably better than you're gonna find in a million years... which is _why_ you imprinted."

"She... I don't know, I don't even think I really imprinted." the boy said, shifting uncomfortably.

Embry looked the kid over. He probably knew Seth best, short of Leah. But Leah was his sister, and further, a girl. There were just certain things you didn't share with your sister. But, lately, Seth had been unusually quiet about his thoughts. Even while on patrol, he managed to keep a lot to himself. Embry could tell, since obviously something was bugging the kid and all that came across the telepathic link was a craving for pineapples. That in itself said enough, but he needed to hear Seth say it.

"You know if you did or not." said Embry in a low voice. "Don't blow this off, okay? I know I talk about imprinting like it's a stupid thing, but the other guys always say it's the best thing that's ever happened to them."

"Their imprints aren't terrified of wolves." he said quietly.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Embry asked. "Seth, imprinting is part of destiny. If it wasn't meant to be, it wouldn't have happened. Listen; she's smart, she's pretty, she can stitch up a wound, she's Hawaiian, for Pete's sake, and," He quirked his eyebrows up. "She can run damn fast. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"What does running have to do with anything?"

"It means she's tough. She's a fighter, she can handle whatever you throw at her. Not that I'm bashing on the other guys' girls, but it's not like any of them can really hold their own. I mean, Rachel is nice enough, but she can't beat a werewolf in a race, now can she?" he asked.

"She didn't beat me." he said, though he was smiling a little, like he was proud of her.

"She so beat you. I saw it." Embry said smugly. "Just think about this, okay? You saw what it did to Jake when he tried to get away from his imprint. I don't want that happening to you."

"There's nothing to think about. I didn't imprint. She's just my friend." Seth said, getting to his feet. "I have to go. See ya."


	8. Chapter 8

The sky was darkening quickly, and I could see my breath in the cold air. I walked across the sand toward the bonfire burning brightly on the beach, which was already surrounded by a bunch of people.

"Part-ay." Seth said, appearing beside me in shorts and a t-shirt.

"I. Am. Freezing." I said, shivering.

He looked at me like I was nuts. "You're cold? Really?"

"I'm from Hawaii. Of course I'm cold." I snapped.

"Oh, well, here." he said, wrapping his arms around me. Even through my sweatshirt, I could feel his warmth.

"How are you so warm?" I exclaimed.

"My mother was a space heater." he said, completely deadpan.

I looked at him. "If I hadn't met your mother already, I probably would have believed you."

Suddenly, as we neared the fire, I heard people hooting and hollering. "Who's the chic, Clearwater?"

"Yeah, you gonna introduce us?"

"'The chic' can hear you!" I called back.

They laughed and punched each other like guys do, and I rolled my eyes, amused. "You hang out with these lolos?"

"Occasionally," Seth said with a grin. "Hey, you mentioned you like surfing, right?"

"Yeah, but it's way too cold-"

He took my shoulders and turned my body to look at the ocean. There, several of the local boys were on boards, catching the waves that were actually pretty impressive, considering the sad beach. I debated for a moment, really wanting to surf, but also knowing how cold it was. "... Can I rent a board?" I asked sheepishly.

**. . .**

Being out on the water again was awesome. I showed up some of the experienced surfers without even trying, like it was second nature.

Who am I kidding? Of course it's second nature.

Anyway, the surfing lasted into the night, and I even managed to get Seth out there for a few tries, though he failed miserably. I finally dragged myself back to the beach, completely exhausted, but extremely happy. One of the boys took my board for me, as I'd unintentionally started a fan club.

"You're pretty popular around here." Seth observed as I flopped on the sand near the fire so I could warm up and dry off.

I could only nod, my teeth were chattering so hard. The waves had been fun, but way icy. I'd need at least two hours in a hot shower to get warmed up again.

I heard him laugh above me, and he lifted me halfway off the ground, sliding underneath my back. "Here. We don't really have blankets out here, so..."

"How are you so _warm_?" I asked again. "Seriously, it's like you have a fever or something!"

"I naturally have a higher body temperature than everyone else." he explained. "And you're so cold that it feels warmer."

"It's nice." I said, snuggling against him. What? I was cold.

He smiled. "Well, we wouldn't want it to be bad, now would we?"

**. . .**

I shifted a little, then blinked. I was on my bed, and I couldn't remember getting there. I was also fully dressed, only lacking shoes. I slowly got up and walked down the hall into the kitchen, where Emily and Sam were talking at the table. "Morning?" I said, posing it as more of a question.

"Yes, it's morning." said Sam as though to a two-year-old. "It's what comes after nighttime, but before noon."

"Thanks, smart-ass." I said, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

"Excuse me?" said Emily, raising her eyebrows.

"'Thank you, incredibly clever and witty handsome young man.'" I revised.

"Better."

"Why am I still dressed?"

"Seth took you home last night." Sam answered. "You fell asleep on the beach, so he brought you here. You might want a shower; you were still wet when you went to bed."

I pulled at my damp shirt with distaste. It hadn't been terribly comfortable waking up to wet clothes. "Yep. Shower time." I agreed, standing up. Suddenly, something stood out in the corner of my eye. It was a series of scratches on the door frame, about half and inch deep. "What's that?"

"Raccoon tried to get in last night." Sam said casually, drinking his milk.

I narrowed my eyes, but said nothing. Exactly what type of raccoon left marks halfway up the door?

I wasn't stupid. People needed to quit lying to me.


	9. Chapter 9

I sat bolt upright as a clap of thunder hit. My heart hammered and I scrambled out of bed, stumbling around until I'd managed to get my boots on. "The cows..." I muttered to myself. "Get the cows..."

I stumbled down the dark hallway, my balance still not fully functional. A door opened next to me, scaring the hell out of me. "Holy f-"

"Nani?" said Sam, staring hard at me in the darkness. "What the hell are you doing?"

"The cows." I said. "Need to get the cows out of the storm. Thunder..."

He looked at me like I was an idiot. "Nani, we don't have any cows. Are you sleepwalking?"

_Obviously not, now out of my way, I need to get the cows..._

"Sam?" said Emily, walking to the doorway and pulling her robe around her. "What's going on?"

"Emily, go back to sleep. I'll get the cows." I said, beginning to move forward again.

"Cows?" she asked.

"I have no idea." Sam said tiredly, rubbing his temple.

Emily gave me an odd look, then felt my forehead with her hand. "Quit, I need to get the cows." I said, pushing her hand away.

"Sweetie, you've got a fever." she said plainly. "Go back to bed."

I looked at her, confusion taking over. "Fever?"

"Okay, I think I know what's going on." said Sam, stepping forward. "Come on, back to bed." He lifted me into his arms and carried me back to my room.

"Cows..." I mumbled, already drifting off in his arms.

"I'll take care of the cows. You stay in bed."

I didn't answer. I was out.

**. . .**

"You thought we owned cows." Sam said, crossing his arms as he looked at me. He leaned against the door frame of my room, looking amused.

"Did not." I mumbled from the bed, eyes closed against my headache. Actually, in my fevered state, I'd thought I was back on my ranch. During thunderstorms, we always had to get any cows in the pen into the barn so they wouldn't get struck by lightning or something.

"Did so. You even put some pants on for a minute and told Emily to go back to bed while you took care of it." he told me. "I couldn't figure out what the hell you were talking about."

I groaned. "Go away. Who asked you?"

"Having a fever of a hundred and three must make you _pretty_ loopy."

We both heard a knock at the door. "Don't get up, I'll get it." he said sarcastically, leaving the room. I heard the door open.

"Hey, Sam."

"You here for Nani?"

"Uh... yeah." Seth said as though he hadn't expected the question, therefore not expecting to answer. "Is she here?"

"Yeah. She's out of commission, but she's here." Sam answered.

"What? What's wrong with her?" Seth asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"She's sick. Probably from being soaking wet in the cold the other day. Nothing to worry about though, just a fever." Something in his tone was implying something, but I couldn't tell what. His voice dropped half an octave, almost like he was speaking in code and trying to make it obvious.

Shortly thereafter, Seth was standing in my doorway. "No, go away..." I groaned, putting my hands over my face. "I'm hideous!" (Just so everyone knows, I was being melodramatic on purpose.)

He laughed and took my hands away. "Jeez, Nani, you're almost as warm as I am."

"That's what a fever tends to do to you, yes." I told him.

He snorted. "You know what I mean. You feeling okay?"

I gave him a flat look. He accepted this. "Is there anything I can do?"

I thought for a moment. "Water would be nice."

"Water it is." he said, getting up and heading to the kitchen. Suddenly, my phone started to ring, so I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nani."

"David?" I asked incredulously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just wondering how you're doing."

"Hiki no. Stayed out in the rain yesterday like the brilliant girl I am, and now I'm sick."

"Ah, that's too bad." he said, and I could hear his grin in his words. "See, if you were here, I'd be able to kick you around for it."

"Yeah, yeah. You just wait till I get back there, lolohi, I'll stuff your head down a-"

"Nani?" said Seth, reentering the room. "Who are you talking to?"

"David." I said, moving the speaker away from my mouth. "From back home."

His brow furrowed as though confused, but he just shrugged and set the glass of water down on my bedside table.

"Who's that?" asked David.

"Seth. He's one of the guys that hangs around my aunt's house. Kind of like some ranch hands I could mention."

"The difference is that we're paid to be here. I'm sure they're not as fun as us, anyway."

"They could give you a run for your money, lolohi, I wouldn't be saying anything so soon."

"Well, I would be hurt by that, but the others want to say aloha."

"Others?"

"Yeah, all the guys are here. It's lunchtime in Hawaii, so I figured it was a good time to check in."

That brought a smile to my face despite the fact that I felt like crap. "They're all there?"

"Have a listen."

There was silence for a moment, then a chorus of, "ALOHA, NANI!" came through the speaker and I had to hold the phone away from my face. "Aloha, boys!" I said back. "I wish I was with you."

"We wish you were here, too, Nani!" one of them laughed. It sounded like Kai, the oldest.

"I have to go now, okay? I love you all! A hui hou!"

"A hui hou!" they chorused back.

I shut the phone and leaned back on my pillows, the feeling of being sick returning. I sighed, closing my eyes.

"You really miss them, don't you?" Seth asked.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Well... yeah. They're my family. And I haven't seen them in a really long time."

He nodded. "Yeah, I get it."

I closed my eyes again, and I was almost asleep when he spoke again. "Are we part of your family?"

I opened my eyes and thought about that. "You all remind me so much of the boys back home that I suppose you'd have to be."

He smiled then, as thought satisfied, and stood. "I have to go. Try not to get some disease while I'm gone."

I grinned. "Bye."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys. Sorry it's taking me so long to update on all of my stories. It happens a lot, actually, but this time it's because I'm working on an original story. Believe me, if you knew all the stuff that happens in that thing, you wouldn't be surprised by my distraction. I just remembered this story and wanted to write more in it.**

**. . .**

Over the course of the next few weeks, I found that, despite my best efforts, I was spending more and more time with Seth. He was just such a kid, and whenever I was around him I felt that much more at home. I knew I was probably jinxing myself by doing it, like maybe I was increasing my chances of staying permanently. On the other hand, now it would only be that much harder to leave.

There was still no word on when I'd be returning, or if I would. So all I could do was just hang on and not plan anything for the distant future.

"Nani! Nani, come on, open up!"

I opened the front door and leaned against the frame, arms crossed. "It's open, lolo. You could just open it."

"It's polite to knock." he said, shrugging.

"Polite to _knock_, Seth, not break the door down."

"Well, I'm in a hurry, come on." he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we ran.

"Jake's. He's gonna give us a lesson in motorcycling." he answered, looking ridiculously happy. I rolled my eyes and played along, thinking this would be interesting.

When we got to Jake's house, Seth started banging on that door like there was no tomorrow. I supposed something about cycling just excited the hell out of him.

There was a call of, "He's in the back," from inside the house. I figured that was Billy, Jake's dad, and decided he probably didn't want to be disturbed at the moment. "Come on, lolo, before you chip the paint." I said, dragging him by the arm to the other side of the house. There, we found Jake underneath a car in the garage, doing who knew what to it.

"Hey, Jake." Seth said, suddenly very collected. "Are we, uh, gonna do the thing now?"

The older boy emerged from beneath the car, face smeared with oil and a grin on his face. "If you guys are ready."

"What's the occasion?" I asked, hands in my shorts' pockets as I watched the two uncover a couple bikes.

"I just finished fixing them, and Seth's been asking to learn for a while." Jake explained. "Okay, the Triumph goes to Seth, and Nani can use the Aprilia. Cool with you?"

"Cool with me." I said, going up to the Aprilia. "We take these outside first, right?"

"Uh, yeah." he said, nodding. "Wrecking the garage is _not_ part of the agenda today."

"Well, then, let's get 'em out there." I said, already pushing mine out the door.

"Do you have any experience on these things?" he asked.

"Do four-wheelers count?" I asked. "I have lots of experience on those."

"Did you own one?" Seth asked, wheeling his own bike out next to me.

"We owned two." I told him.

"It's not the same, trust me." Jake said. "Stop. We'll just follow the back-road here." He turned to me. "You do know how to get on that thing, right?"

I gave him a look as I swung my leg over. "I'm not totally incompetent." I said.

"Sure, sure." he chuckled. "Can you get it started, though?"

I rolled my eyes and turned the key. "Why don't you go help the lolo over there instead of worrying about me? I can handle myself."

"If you say so." he said as though he didn't believe me, moving over to help Seth. I shook my head. Jake was being ridiculous. As I looked at the controls and steering mechanism, I figured it was almost exactly like driving a four-wheeler. "Can I just go?" I asked.

"If you think you can." he responded.

I pressed on the clutch and then I was pulling away from them and heading down the road. I started gaining speed as I got the hang of it, feeling the mild thrill of going so fast. I was reaching a slight curve in the road, where the trail met the forest, getting slightly nervous about turning. A motorcycle is a lot slimmer than an ATV, so I wasn't sure how hard to turn the handlebars. I was saved the effort, however, when something huge and hairy leaped into my path. I yanked on the bars, trying to swerve and ending up tipping the bike. It skidded away from me, my right leg burned, and I was just coming to realize the huge hairy thing was _another_ wolf. This one was not quite so passive as the others, though, and immediately lunged.

**. . .**

"Yeah, see? You got it." Jake said. "Just hit this-"

There was a shriek from down the road. Both boys stiffened. "Nani." Seth murmured, suddenly looking significantly less boyish as his protective instincts took over.

"Move back." Jake said, pushing Seth back on the bike and getting on in front of him. In a second, the bike roared and they were flying down the road.

**. . .**

I had never been more grateful to be wearing hiking boots.

When the wolf lunged, I managed to get my foot up I time to kick it in the face. I couldn't hope to kill it. The point wasn't to win the fight, it was just not to lose.

I'd made the wolf mad. He lunged again, and I dove to the left. But this thing was fast, and had turned around before I could find something to hit it with. I jumped out of the way again, and ended up tumbling down the drop-off next to the road. The wolf jumped and followed my decent. In the split second I had between reaching the bottom and getting pinned by the animal, I snatched the largest stick I could find and jammed it between his jaws. The amount of force it put on my arms was insurmountable, but I kept him at bay if only because of the fear gripping my entire body.

And then I noticed his eyes. They were a very deep green, like a pine tree. They were familiar. I'd seen them many times before.

Before I could do anything about it, a large rock came flying out of nowhere and hit the wolf in the head, making it roll off of me and run into the forest. I watched it go, stunned, then felt strong arms lift me up.

"Come on, Nani, we need to get out of here." Seth said in my ear, pulling me back up to the road. When we got there, I snapped out of my daze and wrested myself from his grasp. I was so angry I couldn't even say anything. I didn't _want_ to say anything. My injured leg gave out and I hit the ground. Seth tried to help me back up, but I pulled away and stood on my own, hitting the dirt with my fist in anger. Without thinking about it, I picked up my fallen bike, started it up, and sped back to Jake's house. All the while, I couldn't help but picture those eyes, so much less feral than the rest of him. That wolf had been more than just an animal. I knew it in my heart.

Those had been Jared's eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Again, sorry for the delay. I'll try to post more quickly, but I'm not making any promises.**

**. . .**

I stormed into Sam and Emily's house, ignoring the pain in my leg while I searched for a decent cloth.

"Nani, what the hell happened?" Sam asked, entering the kitchen and looking at me in shock. "Where were you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I said, cleaning the blood off of my leg.

"Nani, this is serious!"

"How about you listen to _me_ for once?" I exclaimed, gesturing with the bloody rag. "I am _not_ talking about it, I don't _want_ to talk about it, so leave me alone!"

"You're hurt." Sam persisted. "What. Happened."

"Don't you get it?" I asked, slamming a drawer shut. "I'm not talking to you about it because it's not worth it! If I asked you to explain, you'd just lie to me again! All of you would! So just shut up and let it go!" I breezed passed him and walked out the door, heading for the Aprilia I'd decided to hang on to a little longer. I jumped on it, kicked it into gear, and sped away from the house, away from La Push. I needed to get out. To where I knew no one would be dishonest with me.

Sometimes, I wished I didn't have that gift. Ever since I could remember, I'd been able to pick up on little details. Sometimes it was useful, but other times it just told me things I didn't really want to know. Like when none of my so-called friends were telling the truth.

Soon, it was pouring rain. I kept right on driving until I found myself in Forks. Still kept going, along the backroads and empty small-town streets. But then I finally had to stop. I was low on gas, and I had no credit card with which to buy it. I just stood on the side of the road, gripping the handles and trying to ignore the icy rain. I didn't have time to worry about that. Now, I was faced with the prospect of figuring out what to do. I was too far away to walk home, and I didn't exactly know where I was to begin with. At least there weren't any more wolves around.

"Nani?"

I looked up to see Bella Cullen looking at me through the rolled-down window of her car. "What are you doing?"

"Standing."

"In the rain?"

"Apparently."

"Why?"

I threw up a hand. "Because La Push sucks right now. Every time I turn around, I'm either being faced with a giant wolf or I'm being lied to. I don't know if that's how they treat everyone, but I'm _not_ putting up with it anymore."

She sighed. "Do you need a ride home?"

I looked guiltily at the bike next to me. "Jake just fixed this... He's probably mad I took it."

"I'll come by later and get it." she promised. "Come on in."

I set the bike down in the grass and circled around to the other side of her car. "Sorry about getting your seats all wet." I said when she started driving again.

"It's fine. Edward's the one that really cares about that kind of thing." she said. "So what's this about everyone lying to you?"

I let out an irritated breath. "Something is going on at the reservation. I don't know what it is, and every time I try to find out, someone gives me some not very specific answer and changes the subject. _Everyone_ is hiding stuff from me. Even Seth hides stuff, and he's been the most honest so far."

"Give it time." she advised. "They'll tell you. I'm sure of it."

"How?"

"They told me."

I looked at her. "So you can tell me what all this is about?"

"No." she said, looking apologetic. "They have to tell you. It's like a rite of passage. You need to earn it."

I snorted. "Yeah, well, does fighting off a giant wolf count? Because I definitely just did that."

She looked surprised. "You had to _fight_ one?"

"Well, it attacked me in the woods, so what else was I supposed to do?"

Bella shook her head. "_That_ doesn't make any sense. Normally they're more behaved than that."

"Normally more behaved..." I repeated with a humorless laugh. "Akua, I'm going to go insane here."

"You get used to it, trust me."

"Look, you're really nice and all, but you seem just as crazy as the rest of them." I said.

"You have no idea." she murmured. "Here's Sam's house. I'll call Jake about the bike later. He'll get less mad at me."

"Thanks." I muttered, opening the door and feeling cold rain sprinkle my bare skin. "And thanks, you know, for the ride."

"No problem." she said. "I hope you figure things out."

"Oh, believe me," I muttered as I got out. "I will."

Bella drove away, and I was left to walk back into the house. Sam and Emily stood up when I came in, but I blatantly ignored them, went into my room, and firmly closed the door behind me in a very prominent "Do not disturb" gesture. Instead of moping about and doing nothing, I picked up an old rag, dipped it in the glass of water on my nightstand, and began trying to clean my wounded leg better than I had before. It was stinging seriously bad now, and I randomly thought about how Bella hadn't seemed the least bit perturbed by the fact that it was bleeding. Maybe she simply hadn't noticed. Or maybe she'd been pretending for my sake. At any rate, I was too tired to care, and the moment I finished cleaning the dirt from the cuts, I curled up in my bed and went to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, I stood at the window watching the rain fall down. It was just Emily and I in the house today; no boys. Not even Seth. He hadn't even called.

"Nani?" Emily said carefully behind me.

It was time I find out what was going on. "How did you get those scars?" I asked quietly.

She paused. "Nani, I-"

"Just answer me honestly." I said, turning to look at her. "How did you get those scars?"

She sighed. "I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later. The guys didn't want you to know, but-"

"Emily..."

"Sam." she said simply. "Sam gave them to me."

I nodded, my suspicions having been confirmed. "Don't try to follow me." I said, walking out the door and slamming it behind me. The moment I was outside, all the anger and terror I was suddenly feeling burst out of me in the form of running. Running as fast as I could. I had gotten what I wanted. I knew what they were hiding. Was everyone here a monster?

Yes.

**. . .**

Sam walked into the quiet house, looking around. "Emily?"

"I'm here."

He walked over to her and noticed her distressed expression. "What happened?"

"Nani left." she said. "She knows, Sam. She figured it out. Maybe not the details, but..." She turned to look at her fiance. "Sam, I couldn't tell her everything. She walked out before-"

"I have to find her." he said quickly. "This is the second time she's run off on her own. It's _dangerous_ out there, Emily! The pack is phasing without even trying, and they become feral. We were lucky Bella picked her up yesterday, but today we might not be."

"Well, she might have gone to the beach." she offered. "She's been going there a lot lately."

"What? No she hasn't, she's been going to the park."

"But she told me she was..." They looked at each other, realization dawning on them.

"Seth."

Sam was headed for the door, already stripping his shirt off. "I need to get her."

"But she's safe, isn't she? I mean, Seth won't hurt her, right?"

"Emily, at this point, if I don't find her soon, she's as good as dead." he answered, taking off.

**. . .**

I climbed up the ivy on the side of the Clearwater's house, stopping at Seth's window and tapping on it. He came to the glass and looked at me, then shook his head. I motioned for him to open the window, but again, he said no. I gestured more violently, and finally he pushed it up. "Go away, Nani." he said.

"Not until I get some answers." I said, forcing my way through the window.

"I'm serious, Nani, get _out_!"

"No!" I snapped. "What is wrong with you? You've been avoiding me all day!"

Seth looked like he was trying as hard as he could to stay calm. "Look, if I tell you, do you promise you'll leave?"

I nodded and sat on his bed. He sighed again. "Fine. But don't interrupt. Because we're a little short on time, I'm just going to come out and say it: We're werewolves. Jake, Embry, Jared, all of us. Sam is our leader."

I took a breath, but this wasn't as hard to digest as it might have been. I'd been suspecting this. Not werewolves specifically, but something close to it.

"And now, something is really wrong with the pack. We're phasing unintentionally and we're starting to give in to our instincts and I know it's going to happen to me soon so if you don't get out of here we'll be in a lot of trouble and I can't let you get hurt because – Because I-"

"You what, Seth? Spit it out!" I snapped.

"I've imprinted on you." he murmured almost so quietly that I couldn't hear. Then, something began happening to him. He started shaking, and I couldn't figure out why. He looked like he was in pain, like he was resisting something powerful.

Suddenly, someone was banging on the door. "Nani?" came Sam's urgent voice. "Nani, are you in there?"

"They can't get in." Seth spat through gritted teeth. "Door – locked – Arrgh!" He was shaking so fast his outline was blurred.

If I had blinked, I would have missed it.

I didn't blink and I still didn't understand.

Where Seth should have been, there was a massive wolf growling at me. I didn't scream. I didn't move. I hardly even breathed. I just pressed myself against the door, hoping against all hope that this monster wouldn't eat me. It was sniffing the air, tasting my scent. I closed my eyes, praying to every god I knew to save me.

"Nani?" someone called, this time Embry.

"The door's locked." I said as quietly as I could.

"Open it."

"I can't move."

I heard Sam swear. "Somebody get a hammer! Something to get this damn door open!"

At the sound of Sam yelling, the wolf snarled and pushed its head in my face. "Wait! No! Stop!" I pleaded, looking into its eyes. Its dark, brown eyes. Seth's eyes.

"Seth, please," I whispered. "It's me."

He blinked and paused, the sound of his name seeming to calm him down slightly. "That's it." I said, tears in my eyes, I was so scared. "See, Seth? Nothing to go crazy about. It's just me. Don't hurt m-"

Someone on the other side hit the door full force. It didn't break, but it caused Seth to rear back with a snarl, swinging a paw and catching me on the shoulder. Three long, red scratches appeared, and pain exploded in my arm. When he came back down, his paws landed on either side of me, and then he was Seth again, staring at me with wild, frightened eyes. The force of his wolf form, though, had hit the door so hard that it fell. I fell on top of it, the abruptness of hitting the wood jarring me. Someone pushed Seth off of me, but everything was looking blurry. The colors were too bright, and there was a ringing in my ears that blocked out most sounds.

Then everything went black.

**. . .**

**Before anyone says anything, yes, Seth was naked at the end of the chapter and, no, I'm sure they really didn't care.**


	13. Chapter 13

I stirred awake, blinking at the bright light of the room around me. I looked down at the tube feeding into my arm in bewilderment. I moved my hand to pull it out, but a cold hand stopped me.

"Don't pull those out." said the calm voice of Carlisle Cullen.

"Whasgoingon?" I slurred.

"You were hurt." he said. "Not badly. A concussion and a few scratches on your left shoulder. They'll leave scars, but other than that, you should be fine."

"Seth?"

He sighed. "He's alright, but he won't talk to anyone. He's a bit shaken up." He put a hand on mine. "Sam wants to see you, but I told him he'd have to wait until you were better."

"Let him in." I said, straightening up on the bed. My shoulder twinged and my head hurt a bit, but otherwise I felt okay. "I need to talk to him."

He nodded and left, and moments later, Sam walked into the room. "Hey, kid." he said, sitting in the chair next to my bed. "How do you feel?" 

"A little battered and confused." I said. "Why didn't anyone just tell me?"

"It's supposed to be kept secret." he answered.

"Sam, it's a little hard to keep a secret if you surround people with it." I told him. "And you guys are really bad at it, anyway. I knew something was up the first day I came here."

"Yeah, well... It's a little hard to hide, to be honest." he said, scratching the back of his head. "But now that you know, I might as well tell you everything."

"Might as well."

He sighed. "I'm the leader of our pack. We're the tribe's protectors; have been since ancient times. Skips a generation, though, so none of our fathers had it."

"What about Leah?" I asked. "Is she one, too?"

"Yeah, but it's really rare for a girl to become a werewolf. There's a lot of complicated stuff... I don't want to get into it. Anyway, every day we patrol the border in shifts, which is why you don't see some of us half the time."

"And why you're always 'working late'." I supplied.

"Yeah... Sorry about that first night. I was keeping watch on the house when Embry called me. I had to respond." he apologized. "But here's the thing: Something is happening to our pack. We're phasing without meaning to, and we become dangerous when that happens. Normally, across the telepathic link we have, we can communicate with a certain amount of normalcy. But when someone changes like that, nothing is understandable except the need to... Cause issues." he finished carefully.

This was a lot to take in. It all seemed so complicated. "Seth was saying something about that before he... phased, did you call it? Anyway, he seemed like he was really trying to keep calm because he'd... um... _imprinted_ on me?" I said uncertainly. "What does that mean?"

Sam took my hand and looked at me very seriously. "Imprinting, for werewolves, is supposed to be a rare thing, but for some reason it's happening a lot with us. It's like love at first sight. The second a werewolf sees the person he'll be with forever, he instantly knows. Take Emily and I, for example." he said. "You can't choose who you imprint on, and once you do, you can't take it back. You're instantly devoted to that person and to protecting them for the rest of your life."

"But you hurt Emily." I protested. "Why?"

"It wasn't really a conscious choice, Nani." he said. "When someone first starts becoming a werewolf, they're unpredictable and hard to control. I phased on accident, and she... she was too close." He looked almost ashamed, not meeting my eyes. "Seth's gotta be beating himself up about this. He didn't want to hurt you."

"I figured as much." I said quietly. "So... basically what you're telling me, is that whatever is going on with the pack is making them act like amateur werewolves?"

"In essence, yeah. Except we can't train them to be disciplined because it's not their fault." he answered.

I nodded. "Okay. So, the Cullens. What are they?"

"Vampires." he answered.

I nodded again like this made perfect sense. "Yeah. Fun. Wait..." I narrowed my eyes. "That's sick! What, does Dr. Carlisle get off on watching people bleed to death?"

Sam paled. "Nani, they can _hear you_. And no, he doesn't. He's a doctor because, as much as I hate to say it, he's actually a good guy. He's done nothing to harm us and has even helped us out on occasion. So if you could refrain from insulting him, that would be great."

I crossed my arms, wincing as the three scratches twinged. "So what's Seth doing?"

"Who knows?" Sam sighed. "He phased back into his wolf form and took off. Jared said he saw him pacing around on the beach earlier, but he won't come out of wolf form."

"Can I talk to him?"

He suddenly looked a bit guarded. "He's safe for now, but I have no idea when he'll go nuts again. It's best to leave him be."

"What about you? Can't you be affected?"

"Of course I can. But I haven't yet, and I'm determined to find out what this problem is before I do." he said. "Listen, you rest up. Dr. Carlisle will send you home when he thinks you've recovered."

"Fine." I muttered.

He kissed the top of my head as he stood. "Bye for now."

"A hui hou."

I stared at my hands, the tan skin a stark contrast to the white sheets. My world had just been turned upside down. But the weirdest part? I was okay with that. I couldn't find it in me to deny these claims, and I found I didn't really want to. Now there was an element of magic in life, no matter the danger. At least nothing would be boring from here on out.


	14. Chapter 14

I stood on a short cliff overlooking the water, watching a large wolf pacing around on the sand below me. He'd been pacing for ten minutes, and I finally decided enough was enough. "Seth!" I called, lowering myself down to a foothold. "I'm coming down!"

He gave a short growl that didn't mean very much to me. My shoes squished into the soft sand, and I turned to look at him. He'd stopped pacing now, and was just looking at me. "You'll have to face me sometime, you know. As a _human_." I huffed.

He just stood there stubbornly, not making a move to change back.

"Seth... What do you want me to do? Do I look like I'm made at you?" I paused. "Okay, don't answer that. But it's not because you went ape-shit on me. That, oddly enough, I'm _not_ concerned about. I'm mad because you won't talk to me now because you're scared of yourself. I mean, come on! You could tear a car apart in seconds and now you can't even look at me!" I shook my head. "Seth, despite what you are, I'm not scared of you! Not... completely. Admittedly, wolves still freak me out. But I know you, Seth. I know who you are!So... Kuamuamu, look at me! Yelling at you in wolf form makes me feel like I'm shouting at a dumb animal!"

He looked at me a beat longer, then turned and ran off. I watched him go, surprised at his abrupt exit and a little offended. Then I wondered if he could even understand me at all in wolf form. That would have been awful. All that yelling and I probably just looked like a lolo to him.

Just then, I saw him running up the beach toward me, human again. "Where did you go?" I called.

"Changing." he said as he jogged to stand in front of me. "We don't keep our clothes when we phase. They kind of rip to shreds."

"Kinky." I commented. "Are you ready to talk to me now?"

"I was ready the whole time." he told me.

"So why didn't you come out?"

"I thought maybe if I stayed in wolf form, whatever is affecting the pack wouldn't get to me." he said. "I can't go wolf if I'm already wolf."

I looked at him, then took a breath. "Sam told me what imprinting is."

He looked down. "I was going to tell you-"

"No you weren't." I said. "But that's not the point. Seth, you're my worst nightmare."

He seemed hurt at what I said, but he didn't answer. I just kept looking at him. "So why can't I stay away from you?"

His dark eyes found mine. We just stared at each other for a really long moment, like this was the first time we were truly seeing one another. We didn't even move. Then, in one swift motion, Seth pulled me close to him and pressed his lips against mine. I kissed back, wrapping my arms around his neck. I'd never kissed anyone like this. I'd never felt for someone like this. It wasn't quite as intense as what Seth was obviously feeling, but it was definitely something.

He pulled back, but neither of us let go so we were still only inches away from each other. "Nani," he murmured. "We should go."

"Why?" I pleaded, not really wanting to move.

"We need to help Sam figure out this infection problem." he said. I could feel his breath tickling my nose.

"Can't we do that later?" I asked, inching closer to his lips again.

He took longer to answer, probably because I was driving him nuts. "Later, never, whatever you want, really."

I smiled as we connected again. Somehow, even though I didn't have much experience in the relationship department, I new this was different from anything else. This was deeper, this had more meaning. I _knew_, deep down, that this was destiny. And that seemed like a very vast, very magical thing.


	15. Chapter 15

I was humming an old Hawaiian song as I washed up a few dishes, feeling oddly happy considering the circumstances.

"You have a beautiful voice." Seth commented, taking a freshly washed cup so he could dry it.

"Thanks. You have beautiful drying abilities." I told him with a smile.

He grinned. "I am the best at everything, of course."

"Of course."

Presently, I found myself being turned and pressed against the counter as he kissed me. All day, he'd seemed to be basking in the glory that was my interest in him. Every time the thought crossed his mind, he'd kiss me, like we only had a small amount of time before I'd leave him forever. He was safe, though. I wasn't going anywhere.

Well, not quite. If this infection didn't let up, Sam might just send me home himself. Maybe if I could help them. Try to put in ideas on what this might be, perhaps we could counteract it.

Even as Seth kissed me, I was thinking. What could be making them sick? And how was it spreading?

"Virus!" I suddenly said, pulling back and looking at Seth's startled face.

"Uh... okay?"

"It could be a virus!" I insisted. "This infection thing! Paul was infected first, right?" I pushed past him so I could pace around the kitchen. "Then Augie, who was on patrol with him. Jared had tried to get Augie under control, and suddenly _he_ was infected, too. Then you and Jake pulled him off of me, so you got infected."

"Great theory." he said. "But how do we know?"

"Oh, that's easy." I said. "Just get Dr. Carlisle to examine a blood sample. I'm sure he won't mind, especially if it's a werewolf's."

Seth made a face. "Just one problem, I'm not sure how much Sam's gonna like Dr. Cullen exploring the secrets of our mystical blood."

"If it saves the pack, I'm sure he won't mind. Besides, you've already been infected, so we can just use yours. You're not afraid of needles, are you?" I asked, pulling him out the door with me.

"No. Nani, I'm just not sure. What if Sam-"

"What are you more afraid of, Seth?" I asked, stopping beside the road and looking at him. "Sam, or twenty vicious wolves ready to tear lowly mortals like me apart?"

That set his resolve. "Fine. We can take the Victory Jake gave me."

I smiled, having gotten what I wanted.

**. . .**

Esme was the one who answered the door. "Oh, hello. Um, is Jake with you?"

"No, we're not here for Renesmee today." I said. "We need to see Dr. Carlisle."

"Oh, okay. Let me just go get him." she said, ushering us into the house and then disappearing. Moments later, Dr. Carlisle was strolling into the room. "Hello, Nani. Is everything alright? There haven't been any problems with your injuries, have there?"

"No, I'm fine." I said. "We need you to help us with something. You can examine blood samples, right?"

"Well, with the right equipment, yes, I can." he answered. "Why?"

"I need you to take a sample of Seth's blood." I told him, pushing Seth forward.

"It's for the pack." he said. "Nani thinks whatever's making us go crazy is a virus, so she wants to test the theory."

"If it is a virus, you'll be able to tell." I said.

"Well, I would, but I'd need someone else who had _normal_ werewolf blood to compare it to." he said.

"That's fine. We can do that." I said. "Seth, you let Dr. Carlisle get a sample. I'll call one of the others."

"Okay. I'll be in here." he said as Carlisle lead him away.

I turned and pulled out my cell phone, flipping through the contacts and deciding on which one I wanted. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" said a tired voice.

"Embry?"

"What do you want, Nani?" he asked.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yes."

"Good. I need your help. I have an idea about what's making you guys go nuts." I told him.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I think it's a virus, but I can't be sure until Dr. Carlisle does the blood test. He needs a sample from someone who hasn't been infected yet, and, as you probably figured out, I didn't have many options."

"Sam's not gonna like this." he warned.

"I've heard." I said dryly. "Are you helping or not?"

"Anything to stop this insanity."

"Great. Come over to the Cullens. We'll be waiting."


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the hiatus. I'm back now. **

**Something I wanted to address: Someone pointed out in the reviews a long time ago that Seth and Nani were technically second cousins. That person is probably correct, but I don't know a lot of Twilight trivia so I wasn't aware. I don't see it as a huge issue, though, because second cousins isn't nearly as bad as first cousins, and I'm sure this sort of thing occurs a lot within a tribe.**

**And now we're back to the story. Enjoy!**

** . . .**

"Embry, please-"

"Look, man, I just really don't like needles, and having a vampire stick one in me does not help anything, no offense."

"None taken." Carlisle said, though it was with a dry expression. "Would you like me to sedate you instead?"

Embry made a face. "Uh, that would be a no, my blood-sucking compadre. I'd rather stay awake."

"Damn it, Embry, just let him take the blood! We don't have time for this!" I snapped.

He gave me a look, then glanced at Seth. "You'd better reign your girlfriend in, Seth, she's getting a little antsy."

Seth shrugged. "I don't own her. She can do what she wants. And you _are_ being difficult."

Embry rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever, just do it."

I huffed, turning away and crossing my arms. "Okay, moving on. Once Embry's done being a baby and we figure out what the virus looks like, we can start working on a cure. If there is one. And while that's going on, Seth, you and I are going to the patrol area. We're gonna find out where this is coming from."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Seth asked uncertainly. "I mean, with me being all infected and stuff?"

"If you're worried, you can stay in wolf form the whole time." I told him. "But I need you to show me the route."

He sighed and nodded. "Fair enough. Do you want to go now?"

"Sooner is better than later." I said.

"Hey! Yeah, okay, just leave me here alone, you guys are great." Embry called from the couch.

"Some big tough pack member you are." I taunted. "We'll be back later when we've found something. Come on, Seth, let's figure this thing out."

He ran ahead of me as I walked toward the door, and by the time I was outside, he was in wolf form. I put a hand in the fur on his face, stroking it a little. When he was in control of himself, he was really just an oversized dog. He even nuzzled against me like any dog would.

"Hey, think I can hitch a ride?" I asked.

He seemed to consider the suggestion for a moment, then bowed so I could get on. I swung up onto his back and clutched his fur as he rose to full height. I was just thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea when he took off running. It wasn't nearly as fast as he was capable of going, so he wouldn't throw me off, but I still had to hang on tight.

And I wasn't scared. Not even a little bit. In fact, I felt perfectly safe. I wondered briefly if Sam would get mad at me for using a werewolf in such a childish way, but Seth seemed to be having fun with it. His huge tongue lolled out of his mouth and he looked so goofy I couldn't help but laugh.

Before long, he slowed to a halt near a stream in the woods. I slid off his back, looking around. I could see where the wolves patrolled, as there were numerous paw-prints in the soft dirt. Other than the massive tracks, nothing struck me as odd. I took a big breath through my nose, but nothing smelled any different than what a forest should smell like. "Not seeing anything, Seth." I reported, walking slowly around. He was busy sniffing everything; plants, grass, trees, dirt, anything his nose could reach. I knelt down and studied the stream. It could be something coming from the water, though how a virus like this would get there I had no idea. The boys never said anything about changing patrol routes, so I assumed they'd been coming here for ages. If the water had been contaminated all that time, the problems wouldn't be starting now.

I paused, listening intently. I didn't hear anything but the water and the breeze. But something was definitely out of place, because I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I stood, looking around intently. "Do you feel like someone's watching us?" I murmured to the wolf beside me. Almost as though I'd just jinxed myself, I felt a heavy blow to the head which made the loudest _thunk_ noise ever, and then I was out.


	17. Chapter 17

When I awoke, I was laying not quite comfortably on a pile of woven blankets. A fire burned somewhere to my left, and Seth, who had been reclothed in leather garments, was unconscious on my right side. From what I could see, I was in a den of some sort, with various Native American paraphernalia cluttering up the already small space. My heart shot straight into my throat when I saw a pile of said paraphernalia shift in a chair. I realized the pile was actually a person; an old woman, to be exact. Beneath an old, feathered headdress, her face was leathery and covered with so many wrinkles I could hardly distinguish the original shape. Gray hair fell over her stooped shoulders, which were covered with a heavy black cloak. A gnarled wooden staff was gripped in her equally gnarled hand, the top of which formed some sort of small cage out of branchlike protrusions. A small glass globe rested in the center.

"Awake, are we?" she asked, her voice cracked with age. "Finally. Thought you'd never get up."

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously, sitting up slowly. "Why did you attack us?"

"Why? You were getting too close to my cave. When you found it, you would have told your animal friends all about me, and that wouldn't have been any good." She smiled, and somehow the action seemed wicked. "As for who I am... I'm an old shaman. I've been here for centuries, watching as the world changed and grew polluted. I've been forgotten, and that is alright with me."

I could not comprehend what I was hearing. "_What_? You've been here for _centuries_? How? And why are you messing with the tribe that you belong to?"

"How? Why? I'll tell you all in one answer. My tribe overestimated my talents and asked me to do that which I could not do. In the end, I released an evil spirit into the world and it took control of me. I was exiled, and here I sit to this day." She straightened up as well as she could, haughtily almost, in her chair. "If that's not a reason to disturb the peace, I don't know what is. I like to cause chaos from time to time. Occasionally people are killed. I care little. But you were threatening to bring me to light, and I could not let that happen."

An evil spirit. Great, why don't we just bring warlocks and demons into the equation and throw a whole supernatural party? "You never tried to rid yourself of the spirit?" I asked.

"Why should I? It's given me eternal life and power beyond anything I was capable of before." She pushed herself to her feet, bones creaking and clothes rustling.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Oh, don't worry. It'll be creative, whatever it is." She smiled at me with blackened teeth. Eternal life obviously did not provide its own dental plan. "I think perhaps I'll turn you into the beast you fear the most. How does that sound?" She tilted the staff, aiming the glass end toward me.

"I'm not afraid of wolves anymore." I informed her.

She seemed put out. "Oh, really? Well, that does ruin things, doesn't it? What are you afraid of now?"

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to find out yet." I told her. _What am I doing?_ my mind screamed. _What am I supposed to be doing?_

The corner of her wide mouth quirked up. "Would you like me to find out for you?" She lunged, the staff aimed at my head, and it would have connected were it not for the foot that shot out just in time and kicked it away. "Stay away from her." Seth growled, getting unsteadily to his feet.

She was distracted. I'd be damned if I was going to let this chance pass by. I launched myself at her, tackling her to the floor. She tried to fend me off with her staff but I clung on. "What did you do to the pack?" I demanded.

"Why should you care? You'll be dead soon, or worse!" she promised with a manic gleam in her ancient eyes.

The sound of metal scraping against something like leather reached my ears, and suddenly there was a knife at the shaman's throat. "What did you do to them?" Seth asked.

She glowered at him. "It is a curse. One of four viral curses. One person gets it, and the next to touch their blood takes it upon himself. This particular curse is for the werewolves, and the longer you bear it, the more you become a feral animal permanently." She spat in his face on the word "permanently", sneering at him.

"How do we undo it?" I asked, because I knew who bore it now. I had previously suspected that Sam had received the virus, since he'd pulled Seth off of me. But Seth had not been in wolf form, so no one attacked him and no one touched his blood. He still had it.

"You can't!" she laughed. "There is no spell to break the curse! You must keep passing it on to one another, or become an animal." She began to laugh, then. It was a horrible laugh, one that grated on my nerves. The staff. I was still touching the staff. Maybe the was the source of her power, and, once broken, things would be reset. It was a longshot, but I decided to give it a go. I tried to yank it from her grasp, but she was stronger than she looked. So I rose to my feet and slammed my knee into the wood. It splintered, and on the second try, broke clean in half.

"NO!" she howled, clutching the broken pieces. "You evil little child! Look what you've done!"

I looked at Seth, stepping back from the screaming shaman. "Feel any different?"

"No." he said, his face pale and drawn, like he was about to be sick. "I – Nani, I need to get out of here, I-"

"Go." I said. "She's one old woman without her staff. I can hold her off."

His form was blurring even as he raced to the opening of the den. My heart was beating fast, threatening to leap out of my throat. I didn't want to lose him. I didn't want him to hurt anyone, but I didn't have a lot of options. I looked down at the old woman. "Okay, listen, 'ilio wahine; I've broken your staff. You can't work magic, so tell me how to fix the pack."

Instead of answering me, she burst out laughing. "You think a flimsy piece of _wood_ is the source of my power? You're more stupid than you look."

I didn't know what to do. Up until recently, I'd never been involved with the supernatural. I'd never had any training in fighting evil shamans or curing a werewolf pack of an ancient curse. I wished I'd made Seth stay; even if he did go nuts, the shaman would have been the main target. Now he might go and infect somebody else, and I was still no closer to helping him.

"I still don't understand." I said, if only to keep from having to face her magic for a little while. "You've been sitting here for centuries wreaking havoc on the same tribe. Not only are they too stupid to figure out there's a shaman out here, but you haven't done very much damage. What's the point?"

"The point?" she sneered. "The point is..." Her voice deepened, trailed off, and then her face went slack. I stepped back as what was perhaps the weirdest thing I'd ever seen unfolded before my eyes. Her eyes went black – irises, whites, everything. Everything about her looked dead. She was slumped, her mouth hanging open, her limbs laying limp at her sides. Then, she became reanimated, though it was more like something was taking control of her. The blackness of her eyes brightened, like there was life behind them, and she straightened up. "You make a good argument." she said, though it wasn't her voice. It was deep, frightening, and sounded... evil. "This shell I've been surviving in is of little use to me, but in her exile, I was unable to leave my host. I've been doing what I can to destroy this tribe that woke me from my slumber, but she was too weak. You, on the other hand," The dark eyes looked me up and down. "You are young, strong, and, even better, the tribe trusts you. You will be perfect."

"Perfect? What do you-"

Three things happened then. Almost all of them on top of each other so I barely had time to figure it all out. Smoke burst out of the shaman from every available outlet. She crumpled to the ground and began disintegrating, becoming a pile of gray ash on the floor. I didn't even see the full process because, in a split second, the smoke enveloped me. I couldn't breath. It felt like someone was forcing sandpaper down my throat, and my head was going to explode. Memories were swirling through my mind that weren't mine, intentions that weren't my own became all I could think about.

_Stay quiet,_ said an evil voice in my mind. _And you will not be in pain._


End file.
